Raheem Sterling sends message to Chelsea fans after penalty controversy

has apologised to Chelsea fans after he missed a penalty inthe win over on Sunday.

The Blues are through to the semi-finals of the cup after beating the Foxes 4-2 at Stamford Bridge, but Sterling had a nightmare afternoon.

After winning a penalty in the first-half, he asked regular taker for the spot-kick only to have his awful effort saved by Jakub Stolarczyk.

This decision looked to be costly after Leicester rallied to level the game after being 2-0 down at half-time, but injury time goals from Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke got the win.

Sterling’s game only got worse though, as he missed several great chances to score, blazed a free-kick into row Z, and was loudly booed by his own fans for much of the game.

The England winger has been on the receiving end of many jeers from the Stamford Bridge faithful this season, but was passionately defended by Mauricio Pochettino post-match.

The 29-year-old has now sent a message to fans, posting on social media: ‘ Bound. To all the fans, apologies for the penalty miss.

‘I’ll be back 10x times stronger to help the team win and continue to keep fighting for the badge every single day. Let’s go Blues.’

Several of his teammates replied to his post, including Palmer who said: ‘My brother. S*** happens no need to apologise gg.’

Madueke wrote: ‘Bro no need to apologise.. we appreciate you,’ while Ben Chilwell added: ‘Its football, it happens. We all appreciate you brother.’

Discussing the penalty incident, Pochettino said: ‘I think you know very well that is Cole.

‘But Cole gave the ball to Raheem, I think they have a very good relationship, it came from, of course, , when they were both at Manchester City.

‘When Raheem asked for the ball to take the penalty I think Cole gave [the ball], I’m sure you can see the TV.

‘But that is not a problem, Cole can miss, Raheem can miss, for me their decision is theirs.

‘Of course, I’ll always support the decision of my players on the pitch. That is about to grow, be more mature, I’m always happy we take a decision.’

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